Arkansas Auctioneer Licensing

Arkansas Code Annotated
Title 17. Professions, Occupations, and Businesses
Subtitle 2. Nonmedical Professions (Chapters 10 to 79)
Chapter 17. Auctioneers (Refs & Annos)
Subchapter 3. Licensing

§ 17-17-301. Qualifications; contents of examination

 (a) Auctioneer licenses shall be granted only to persons who are found to be of good reputation, trustworthy, and competent to transact the business of an auctioneer, in such a manner as to safeguard the interest of the public.
(b) The Auctioneer's Licensing Board is authorized to require information from every applicant to determine the applicant's honesty and truthfulness.
(c)(1) In addition to proof of honesty, truthfulness, and good reputation, an examination conducted by the board or its authorized representatives shall be held four (4) times each year, and an examination fee of one hundred dollars ($100) shall be collected from each applicant to defray the expenses of the examination.
(2) The examination shall include questions on ethics, reading, writing, spelling, elementary arithmetic, and a general knowledge of the laws of Arkansas and the Arkansas Code, including, but not limited to, contracts of sale, agency, leases, auctions brokerage, and the provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code, § 4-1-101 et seq.
(d) In addition to the other qualifications provided for by this chapter, every applicant for an auctioneer's license shall be at least eighteen (18) years of age. Every application for a license shall be submitted on forms prepared by the board.

§ 17-17-302. Issuance and renewal--Change of location

(a)(1) An examination shall not be required for the renewal of any present or future license unless the license has been revoked. In this case, the applicant shall take and pass the written examination offered by the Auctioneer's Licensing Board before a new license may be issued.
(2) Licensed auctioneers have a one-hundred-twenty-day grace period beyond a renewal date to renew a license.
(3)(A) Penalty for late renewals beyond the one-hundred-twenty-day grace period shall be two (2) times the sum of a normal license renewal fee.
(B)(i) The board shall notify a licensee of the penalty in subdivision (a)(3)(A) of this section by first class mail.
(ii) If a licensee does not renew his or her license within thirty (30) days after the notice in subdivision (a)(3)(B)(i) of this section is mailed, the board shall send a second notice by certified mail.
(b)(1)(A) The issuance fee for each auctioneer's license shall be one hundred dollars ($100).
(B) The annual renewal fee for each license shall be one hundred dollars ($100).
(C) All licenses shall expire on June 30 of each year.
(2) In the absence of a reason or condition that might warrant the refusal of the renewing of the license and upon receipt of the written request of the applicant and the applicant's annual fee, the board shall issue a new license each ensuing year.
(c) The board shall prepare and deliver to each licensee a license certificate and pocket card.
(d)(1) Notice in writing shall be given to the board by each licensee of any change of business location within thirty (30) days after any change in location, and at that time the board shall issue a new license for the unexpired period.
(2) A change of business location shall automatically cancel the license previously issued.
(3) Changing a business location and issuance of a new license shall entitle the board to collect five dollars ($5.00).

§ 17-17-304. Nonresidents

 (a) A nonresident of this state may become a licensed auctioneer in this state by registering with the Auctioneer's Licensing Board and confirming in writing that his or her actions will be regulated by this chapter and other applicable laws of this state as stated in this section and §§ 17-17-305 and 17-17-306.
(b)(1) In every instance the nonresident must pay the issuance fee, the annual renewal fee, and the Auctioneer Education and Recovery Fund fee.
(2)(A) No person who is not a resident of this state shall conduct any livestock auction in this state unless bonded for at least fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) by a surety licensed to do business in this state by the Insurance Commissioner.
(B) A violation of this section shall constitute a Class A misdemeanor.

§ 17-17-305. License from other state

 (a) A person holding a license to engage in auctions issued to him or her by a proper authority of a state, territory, or possession of the United States of America or the District of Columbia having licensing requirements comparable to Arkansas and who in the opinion of the Auctioneer's Licensing Board otherwise meets the requirements of this chapter may upon application be licensed without further examination.
(b)(1) Nothing in this section and §§ 17-17-304 and 17-17-306 shall prevent the conducting of any auction in this state by any nonresident auctioneer if such an auctioneer is duly licensed by the state of his or her residence and that state, through reciprocity, permits a resident of this state who is an auctioneer duly licensed to conduct auctions in this state to conduct auctions in the other state without being required to obtain a license in the other state.
(2) The license fee applicable to a nonresident auctioneer from another state which does not permit an auctioneer who is a resident of this state and who is duly licensed in this state to conduct auctions in the other state without being required to obtain a license in the other state shall be of the same amount that the other state charges auctioneers who are residents of this state and who are duly licensed in this state to obtain a license to conduct an auction in the other state.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, no person duly licensed as an auctioneer in any other state and temporarily present in this state shall conduct an auction in this state unless he or she acts in association with an auctioneer duly licensed in this state if the state in which the nonresident auctioneer is licensed requires such an association with an auctioneer licensed in that state before an auctioneer duly licensed in Arkansas may conduct an auction in that state.

§ 17-17-306. Proceedings against nonresidents

In addition, every nonresident applicant shall file an irrevocable consent that actions may be commenced against the applicant in any court of competent jurisdiction in the State of Arkansas, by the service of any summons, process, or pleading authorized by the law on the secretary of the Auctioneer's Licensing Board. The consent shall stipulate and agree that the service of the process, summons, or pleading on the secretary shall be taken and held in all courts to be as valid and binding as if actual service had been made upon the applicant in Arkansas. In case any summons, process, or pleading is served upon the secretary of the board, it shall be by duplicate copies, one (1) of which shall be retained in the office of the board, and the other immediately forwarded by registered mail to the last known business address of the applicant against whom the summons, process, or pleading may be directed.

§ 17-17-307. Auction owners; requirements

 (a) If an auction owner is one other than the principal auctioneer, the auction owner shall apply for a license and meet all the provisions of this chapter.
(b) When the owner of an auction company or the designated person of a corporation and the auctioneer are one and the same, only one (1) license shall be required.

§ 17-17-308. Suspension or revocation

The Auctioneer's Licensing Board may impose a civil penalty or suspend or revoke the license of an auctioneer for any of the following causes:
(1) Obtaining a license through false or fraudulent representation;
(2) Pursuing a continued and flagrant course of misrepresentation or making false promises through agents or advertising or otherwise;
(3) Failing to account for or remit within a reasonable time any money belonging to others that comes into his or her possession;
(4) Commingling funds of others with his or her own or failing to keep the funds of others in an escrow or trustee account;
(5) Paying valuable consideration to any person for services performed in violation of this chapter;
(6) Being convicted of a criminal offense involving moral turpitude or a felony in a court of competent jurisdiction of this or any other jurisdiction;
(7) Willfully violating a rule or regulation promulgated by the board;
(8) Failing to enter into a written contract with the seller and to furnish voluntarily to the seller at the time of execution copies of all written instruments prepared by the auctioneer, including the contract;
(9) Any conduct of an auctioneer that demonstrates bad faith, dishonesty, incompetency, untruthfulness, or deceptive practices;
(10) Any other conduct that constitutes improper, fraudulent, or dishonest dealings, including falsely accusing any auctioneer or auction house;
(11) Failing to complete or submit the continuing education requirements as specified by this chapter and the rules and regulations adopted by the board; or
(12) Failing to disclose the buyer's premium in all advertising associated with an auction.

§ 17-17-309. Board investigation of complaint

The Auctioneer's Licensing Board may, upon its own motion, and shall, upon the verified written complaint of any person, investigate the actions of any auctioneer or any person who assumes to act in that capacity, if the complaint, or complaint together with other evidence presented in connection with it if true, would be a violation of this chapter.

§ 17-17-310. Advertisements; required contents

Each and every advertisement by an auctioneer or consignment auction house shall include the number of the license issued to the auctioneer or auction company by the Auctioneer's Licensing Board.

§ 17-17-311. Continuing education

 (a) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, every application to the Auctioneer's Licensing Board for annual renewal of the license of an auctioneer shall be accompanied by proof that the applicant has satisfactorily completed six (6) hours of continuing education in approved programs within the preceding twelve-month period. No auctioneer's license shall be renewed unless the application for renewal is accompanied by the proof required in this section.
(b) All programs of continuing education for licensed auctioneers shall be subject to approval of the board. The board is authorized to prescribe by regulations the minimum standards and requirements for continuing education programs for auctioneers, the procedures and policies for administering such programs, and the manner and conditions under which credit will be granted for participation in such programs.
(c) The continuing education requirements of this section shall not be applicable to any person who has been licensed as an auctioneer or auction house owner or operator by the board for a period of ten (10) consecutive years or more and who is at least fifty-five (55) years of age.

 17-17-312. Criminal background checks

 (a) Beginning July 16, 2003, each first-time applicant for a license issued by the Auctioneer's Licensing Board and each applicant seeking reinstatement of an expired license from the board shall be required to apply to the Identification Bureau of the Department of Arkansas State Police for a state and national criminal background check to be conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
(b) The check shall conform to the applicable federal standards and shall include the taking of fingerprints.
(c) The applicant shall sign a release of information to the board and shall be responsible to the Department of Arkansas State Police for the payment of any fee associated with the criminal background check.
(d) Upon completion of the criminal background check, the Identification Bureau of the Department of Arkansas State Police shall forward to the board all information obtained concerning the applicant in the commission of any offense listed in subsection (f) of this section.
(e) At the conclusion of any background check required by this section, the Identification Bureau of the Department of Arkansas State Police shall promptly destroy the fingerprint card of the applicant.
(f) No person shall be eligible to receive or hold a license issued by the board if that person has pleaded guilty or nolo contendere to, or been found guilty of, any of the following offenses by any court in the State of Arkansas or of any similar offense by a court in another state or of any similar offense by a federal court:
(1) Capital murder, as prohibited in § 5-10-101;
(2) Murder in the first degree and second degree, as prohibited in §§ 5-10-102 and 5-10-103;
(3) Manslaughter, as prohibited in § 5-10-104;
(4) Negligent homicide, as prohibited in § 5-10-105;
(5) Kidnapping, as prohibited in § 5-11-102;
(6) False imprisonment in the first degree, as prohibited in § 5-11-103;
(7) Permanent detention or restraint, as prohibited in § 5-11-106;
(8) Robbery, as prohibited in § 5-12-102;
(9) Aggravated robbery, as prohibited in § 5-12-103;
(10) Battery in the first degree, as prohibited in § 5-13-201;
(11) Aggravated assault, as prohibited in § 5-13-204;
(12) Introduction of a controlled substance into the body of another person, as prohibited in § 5-13-210;
(13) Terroristic threatening in the first degree, as prohibited in § 5-13-301;
(14) Rape, as prohibited in § 5-14-103;
(15) Sexual indecency with a child, as prohibited in § 5-14-110;
(16) Sexual assault in the first degree, second degree, third degree, and fourth degree, as prohibited in §§ 5-14-124--5-14-127;
(17) Incest, as prohibited in § 5-26-202;
(18) Offenses against the family, as prohibited in §§ 5-26-303--5-26-306;
(19) Endangering the welfare of an incompetent person in the first degree, as prohibited in § 5-27-201;
(20) Endangering the welfare of a minor in the first degree, as prohibited in § 5-27-205;
(21) Permitting the abuse of a child, as prohibited in § 5-27-221;
(22) Engaging children in sexually explicit conduct for use in visual or print media, transportation of minors for prohibited sexual conduct, pandering or possessing visual or print medium depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child, or use of a child or consent to use of a child in a sexual performance by producing, directing, or promoting a sexual performance by a child, as prohibited in §§ 5-27-303--5-27-305, 5-27-402, and 5-27-403;
(23) Felony adult abuse, as prohibited in § 5-28-103;
(24) Theft of property, as prohibited in § 5-36-103;
(25) Theft by receiving, as prohibited in § 5-36-106;
(26) Arson, as prohibited in § 5-38-301;
(27) Burglary, as prohibited in § 5-39-201;
(28) Felony violation of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act, §§ 5-64-101 -- 5-64-510, as prohibited in the former § 5-64-401 and §§ 5-64-419 -- 5-64-442;
(29) Promotion of prostitution in the first degree, as prohibited in § 5-70-104;
(30) Stalking, as prohibited in § 5-71-229; and
(31) Criminal attempt, criminal complicity, criminal solicitation, or criminal conspiracy, as prohibited in §§ 5-3-201, 5-3-202, 5-3-301, and 5-3-401, to commit any of the offenses listed in this subsection.
(g)(1) The provisions of subsection (f) of this section may be waived by the board upon the request of:
(A) An affected applicant for licensure; or
(B) The person holding a license subject to revocation.
(2) Circumstances for which a waiver may be granted shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
(A) The age at which the crime was committed;
(B) The circumstances surrounding the crime;
(C) The length of time since the crime;
(D) Subsequent work history;
(E) Employment references; and
(F) Character references.
(h)(1) Any information received by the board from the Identification Bureau of the Department of Arkansas State Police under this section shall not be available for examination except by the:
(A) Affected applicant for licensure, or his or her authorized representative; or
(B) Person whose license is subject to revocation, or his or her authorized representative.
(2) No record, file, or document shall be removed from the custody of the Department of Arkansas State Police.
(i) Any information made available to the affected applicant for licensure or to the person whose license is subject to revocation shall be information pertaining to that person only.
(j) Rights of privilege and confidentiality established under this section shall not extend to any document created for purposes other than this background check.
(k) The board shall adopt the necessary rules and regulations to fully implement the provisions of this section.

Ark. Code Ann. §§ 17-17-301-12